Baptized with the Holy Ghost

It seems reasonable to suggest that the revelation of each member of the Trinity should be accompanied by supernatural manifestations. From the very first pages of human history, God’s activity has been distinguished by its supernatural nature. The Bible begins with a powerful declaration of God’s existence and his creation of everything out of nothing (Genesis 1:1). Our finite minds cannot grasp the concept of nothingness. If you try to think about nothing, you will fail, because you will inevitably be thinking about something, which is not nothing. From nothing, God fashioned the galaxies, placed the stars in their silvery sockets, made the fish of the sea, and established the animal kingdom. The beginning of the universe testifies that God is a God of the supernatural.

Similarly, when the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, took on human flesh (John 1:14) in order to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10), supernatural manifestations accompanied his arrival. For starters, many prophecies were fulfilled concerning virtually every aspect of Jesus’ life. The birthplace of the Messiah was foretold by the prophet Micah: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel…” (Micah 5:2). Matthew records the fulfillment of this prophecy (Matthew 2:1). Furthermore, Isaiah prophesied that the coming Christ would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). That Jesus was born of a virgin is a fact provided, again, by Matthew: “When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost… [and she] brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name Jesus” (Matthew 1:18,25). The perfect accuracy of these prophecies is a direct result of their divine origin.

The natural world also behaved in a supernatural fashion to signal the arrival of the promised Messiah. Matthew records the appearance of a star that informed certain wise men that the “King of the Jews” had been born (Matthew 2:2). The star supernaturally guided them to “where the young child was” (Matthew 2:9). It is no surprise, then, that the wise men “rejoiced with exceeding great joy” when they observed the star (Matthew 2:10). God had led them to the exact location of the virgin-born Savior of the world.

Moreover, the ministry of Jesus was characterized by miraculous activity. He raised Lazarus from the dead. He caused blind Bartimaeus to see. He delivered the demon possessed. He fed a multitude of people with five loaves and two fish. He calmed the raging storm. He turned water into wine. He cured lepers of their leprosy. He healed the fever of Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus was truly a divine healer who performed many miracles. What is even more impressive is that we do not know everything that Jesus did. The Gospels give us only a snippet of all his miracles. It is no exaggeration to say that Jesus’ ministry was saturated with miracles. As John wrote, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25).

Thus, when the Holy Ghost came to this world to fulfill his role in redemption, powerful manifestations also appeared with his descent. This should not appear strange to us, considering that God the Father revealed himself in divinely-inspired manifestations in the Old Testament and God the Son manifested his glory on this earth by performing many mighty deeds. Since the Holy Ghost is now the chief executor of the Trinity, we must quickly acknowledge that all his attributes, including his supernatural involvement in the affairs of humanity, will be involved in fulfilling his role in the unfolding drama of redemption.